Little To Celebrate

COLLEGE FOOTBALL - FSU 19, Jacksonville St. 9

FSU barely survives Jacksonville State

September 13, 2009|By Andrew Carter, Sentinel Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE -- On the brink of suffering a defeat that would have been perhaps the worst in school history, Florida State on Saturday night used two touchdowns in the final 35 seconds to earn a 19-9 victory against Jacksonville State, a Division I-AA team that nearly pulled off what might have been one of the most shocking upsets in college football history.

"I feel lucky to have won," FSU Coach Bobby Bowden said.

Days removed from the dramatic 38-34 loss it suffered against Miami on Monday night, Florida State (1-1) was supposed to let loose its frustrations on the Gamecocks (0-2). Instead, FSU just stayed frustrated.

Through the first 59 minutes at Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida State had scored but one touchdown. The Seminoles appeared lost offensively, inept on special teams and were only in the game because their defense bent, but did not completely break.

Then, in the final few minutes, Florida State decided to show up. Sophomore running back Ty Jones capped a 9-play, 57-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 35 seconds to play that gave the Seminoles the lead for the first time since the second quarter.

"The offense, we knew we had the ball in our hands and we could control this game," FSU quarterback Christian Ponder said.

Afterward, Ponder said he never doubted the Seminoles would win. Some of his teammates were less confident.

On the sideline, FSU senior linebacker Dekoda Watson was thinking how embarrassing a loss to Jacksonville State would be for a program trying to become nationally relevant again.

"Trust me, I was running all them thoughts through my head," Watson said.

Moments after Jones' scoring run, which gave fans reason to cheer, freshman defensive tackle Jacobbi McDaniel sacked Jacksonville State quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, who fumbled on the play. Defensive end Kevin McNeil recovered and returned it 33 yards for the game-clinching touchdown.

Freshman kicker Dustin Hopkins missed both extra-point attempts in the final minute -- which was proof that even when FSU did something right, it did something wrong.

One of the positives for FSU, again, was the passing game. As he did against Miami, Ponder again notched a career-high for passing yards. He completed 22-of-35 passes for 324 yards.

Outside of Ponder's play, there was little with which to find satisfaction for FSU. The running game, thought to be a strength headed into the season because all five of the Seminoles' offensive linemen from a season ago returned, was virtually non-existent and gained just 78 yards on 26 carries.

And while the defensive stats weren't all bad, Florida State still allowed Jacksonville State 310 yards and the Gamecocks at several points had receivers running downfield wide-open.

"This does not look like a defense that's a real physical defense," FSU defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. "There's not many big hits going on out there. And that's very uncharacteristic of a defense at Florida State."

Then there was everything else that went wrong: the five fumbles, of which FSU lost three. The dropped passes. The penalties, six of them for 51 yards.

Had the Seminoles lost, it undoubtedly would have been the low point of the Bobby Bowden era.

Afterward, Bowden said Jacksonville State "won the darn game for 58 minutes." In fact, Jacksonville State won it for about 59 1/2 minutes before the Seminoles avoided a cataclysmic defeat.